Collective Representations and Memories of Atrocities after Judicial Interventions: The Case of Darfur in International Comparison

本研究以苏丹达尔富尔地区为例，考察了司法干预在形成对暴行的认知、集体表征和记忆方面所起的作用。它还考虑了联合国安全理事会和国际刑事法院（ICC）干预的相关影响如何在八个西方民主国家以及每个国家的不同机构中有所不同。集体记忆理论关注的是当今利益对表征和记忆的影响，以及各国对过去暴行的记忆不同，塑造新暴行的表征的方式。这一传统中的理论思想谈到了法律在塑造集体代表及其后果方面的效力。但结果取决于各国对国际刑事法院的接受程度，以及各国的机构（如新闻媒体、非政府组织、奖学金、咨询、决策机构）。这些机构采取的形式应能改变新机构理论认为来自新的国际人权规范的影响。本研究将采用定量和定性相结合的方法。将对每个国家的报纸文章（来自著名的自由派和保守派报纸）和政策文件（包括国务院政策声明）进行内容分析。将对所得数据进行统计分析。将对这些文本的制作者（包括记者和决策者）及其在学术界和以权利和人道主义援助为导向的非政府组织中的消息来源进行深入访谈。集体陈述和记忆是激发干预和促进、阻止或结束暴力循环的调解机制。本研究旨在推进深入了解司法干预在构建这种表征和记忆中的国家特定作用。政策结论涉及国际刑事司法的使用。

Collective Representations and Memories of Atrocities after Judicial Interventions: The Case of Darfur in International ComparisonUsing the case of the Darfur region of Sudan as a basis, this research examines the role that judicial intervention plays in shaping acknowledgment, collective representation and memory of atrocities. It also considers how the related impact of UN Security Council and International Criminal Court (ICC) interventions vary across eight Western democracies as well as across the diverse institutions within each country. Collective memory theory is concerned with the impact of current-day interests on representations and memory and with ways in which memories of past atrocities, differing across countries, shape representations of new atrocities. Theoretical ideas in this tradition speak to the potency of law in shaping collective representations and their consequences. But outcomes depend on the country-specific acceptance of the ICC and further, on nation-specific institutions (such as news media, NGOs, scholarship, consulting, policy-making institutions). The shape these institutions take should modify the impact neo-institutional theories suggest derives from new international human rights norms. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods will be used in the current research. A sample of newspaper articles (from prominent liberal and conservative papers) and policy documents (including state department policy statements) from each country will be content analyzed. The resulting data will undergo statistical analysis. In-depth interviews will be conducted with producers of these texts (including journalists and policy-makers) and their sources within scholarship and rights- and humanitarian aid-oriented NGOs.Collective representations and memories are mediating mechanisms that inspire intervention and promote, impede or end cycles of violence. This research seeks to advance insights into the country-specific role of judicial intervention in constructing such representations and memories. Policy conclusions concern the uses of international criminal justice.